Traybakes with lots of nutritious stuff in them?

[HeyMay]

I'm a big fan of date slice. Delicious, plus it has lots of dates and oats.

I'm looking for other ideas for traybakes where a significant proportion is really nutritious. Things with nuts, seeds, dried or fresh fruit, oats, maybe even lentils!

I have lots of recipes that contain these things, but (apart from the date slice) none where the nutritious ingredients make up a good half of the whole.

Any ideas?

Nigella Breakfast Bars.

You can basically chuck anything in and miss out the peanuts and cranberries. - I love adding cacao nibs, various mixed seeds and dried apricots. I use less condensed milk than the recipe, as I don’t mind them crumbly and I don’t want them too sweet.

Anna Jones has lots of recipes like this, eg banana and pecan cake.

I'm afraid I don't have a recipe, but could you share your one for the date slices please? Sounds good!

These are really nice, a bit too nice in fact. I make them in kind of protein ball sizes rather than as a traybake, but would probably work https://leelalicious.com/homemade-aussie-bites-recipe/

No problem!

300g dates
250ml water
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
150g oats
225g plain flour
150g light brown sugar
190g butter

Put dates, water and lemon juice in saucepan and heat on medium for about 5mins or longer, until the dates turn into a paste.
Rub all other ingredients together in a bowl. Press 2/3 of the oat mix firmly into a lined tin about 8x12". Smooth the date paste on top. Sprinkle remaining oat mix over.
Bake 30mins at 180 until golden. Cool in tin before slicing.

Thank you for the Aussie bites and Nigella breakfast bars ideas - exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. And the Anna Jones tip has led me down a rabbit hole of all sorts of amazing looking recipes! 🤤

You might like date bark - butterfly medjool dates and press down on a baking sheet, spread the whole lot with good peanut butter (I like Manilife) then a layer of dark chocolate and a little sprinkle of sea salt. Like a nutritious millionaire shortbread. Also has been described as ‘orgasmic’ for recipients I have made it for!

Thanks for the recipe! I'm excited to try them! Do you know if they freeze ok?

The pumpkin oat cookies look good on that LeelaLicious site too! I would substitute roasted butternut squash or pumpkin for the canned kind, just needs to be dry ish

Oh, and thanks for the Anna Jones reminder, her veggie burgers are so good https://annajones.co.uk/recipes/the-really-hungry-burger

They have a lovely crunchy bottom which you'd definitely lose if you froze them. If you don't mind them being soggy I'm sure they'd freeze fine. They'd probably last a good week out of the fridge/freezer though. If you won't eat them all I'd just make a half batch tbh.

I do something similar.

Whizz up dates in food processor, add ground almonds and peanut butter, then press into tin, chill, and cover with melted chocolate mixed with a bit more peanut butter.

It ticks the boxes for both my vegan daughter (provided the chocolate is ok) and my GF friend.

Carrot flapjacks https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/carrot-flapjack?srsltid=AfmBOoqHEdzO7gjyayFlWKSBuNfeCBw2XneGk4w-8cR78hekyETBzORu

These no cook bars are fabulous & so easy to make. They’re a staple in my house & everyone loves them. It’s the recipe I’m asked for most.
https://share.google/BKjpFEimK3Mn31ndI

I wonder if you could make batches of the date paste and freeze that, that seems like the most timeconsuming step?

To be honest it's very quick and easy ☺️

Thank you everyone for the new suggestions - I will check them out.